A mother will have to pay a 10,000 euro ($12,140) fine if she posts pictures of her son on Facebook without his consent, after a court in Rome ruled in his favor.

The 16-year-old, whose parents were getting a divorce, raised the issue during divorce proceedings involving his parents.

The teenager was featured by his mother in some photos on social media and judges ruled that the boy could lawfully request the removal of all his photos posted by his mother from the social media site.

Under Italian law, the subject of the photo owns the copyright, rather than the person who took the picture, as is the case in the UK.

As a result, they made an order in December for the mother to remove photos and videos of the boy or face a fine. She will also have to pay her son if she posts new images of him.

Privacy and copyright laws vary from nation to nation. In France, anyone convicted of publishing and distributing images of another person without their consent can face a fine of 45,000 euros (£40,000) and up to a year in prison.

In 2016, French police urged parents to avoid posting photos of their children on social media. They said the images could infringe on their privacy and security.